Cairns Citizens Inspection

US Alliance is the Cause of Deep Malaise inside the ADF, Says Cairns ‘Citizen Inspector’ arrested at U.S. Warship as she fronts Magistrates Court

Contact Margaret Pestorius 0403214422

Cairns Citizens Inspector Margaret Pestorius will appear in Cairns Magistrates Court after she insisted she inspect the USS Green Bay, an operational warship which visited Cairns as part of Talisman Saber joint exercises.

Ms Pestorius said “Gimuy Peace Pilgrims wanted to know what this ship is doing so far from home. Is the Asia Pacific to be the next Middle East?”

“This week we saw in the ‘Afghan Files’, released by the ABC, how war under US command debases the ADF soldiers who were used by the US as spearhead killers. Used as killers, they became rogue, outside of rule of law,” said Ms Pestorius, a long time peace activist, and nonviolence teacher and commentator. Ms Pestorius, a member of Gimuy Peace Pilgrims is also facing charges in an Alice Springs Court for praying on the mountain next to Pine Gap, a US war-making facility. Peace Pilgrims are a set of spirit-led groups that oppose the militarizing of Australia.

“These dreadful issues outlined in the Afghan Files were the result of the US alliance. Talisman Saber, the exercises that this vessel was participating in, is the staging ground for this relationship.”

“And yet our leaders in Cairns, and those with blind folds, pretend that it is a fairy tale cruise ship on holidays.”

Former Australian Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser and Paul Keating have both publicaly criticized the lack of an independent foreign policy for Australia and warned that it is not in Australian interests to be beholden to the US. “The US has no regard for the welfare of its allies. Frankly, the only ones to benefit from the US alliance are the US corporations that sell Australia weapons. Australians never benefit; Indigenous people never benefit; the US just re-militarise our land just like the British did during colonization in the Frontier Wars.”

“We are a citizen’s presence to say no to endless war and to question why these ships are in our neighbourhood. If we don’t ask, who will?”

The Citizen Inspection team march towards the US warship, the Green Bay, to question why a warship is in our city. Do they pose a threat to the people of Cairns? Have they been involved in loss of life? Will they be involved in loss of life?The Citizen inspection team is stopped by police on its way to ask the captain of the Green Bay why they have brought their war machine to our peaceful shoresCitizens are concerned that war games are being conducted on our shores, sending a threatening message to our neighbours and making us complicit in their war mongering and therefore targets. #StopTalismanSaberCitizens Inspection TeamA visitor from a far off galaxy has come to give her support to our cause, as she knows the devastation of warImpassioned advocates of peace spoke of their concerns about the escalation of Australia’s involvement in US wars and fears for our future as a vassal of the US